North-west Govs Move to Tackle COVID-19, Insecurity

 

Governors of the seven North-west states-Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara-have agreed on joint measures, including the closure of schools, to protect their citizens from the likely impact of COVID-19.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of their meeting on Wednesday at the Government House in Kaduna.

The North-west governors as well as governors of Niger and Kwara States, which share boundaries with the zone, also “resolved to jointly fund security operations aimed at conclusively addressing the security challenges bedeviling their various states.”

The communique signed by the Chairman of North-west Governors’ Forum, who is also the Governor of Katsina State, Hon. Aminu Masari, said: “Measures shall be taken by each of the states in consultation with the national examination bodies to close schools for a period of 30 days, starting from March 23 2020.

“There would also be sensitisation campaigns to discourage large gatherings until further notice,” and shall be initiated while “states will continue to wage aggressive campaigns to encourage citizens to uphold personal hygiene, including handwashing and environmental sanitation.”

 

According to the communique, “Governors of states in the North-west geopolitical zone as well as Kwara and Niger States today (yesterday) met in Kaduna to review the security situation in their areas and to agree on joint responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The governors received briefings from heads of security agencies at the meeting which had in attendance Major-General A. Agundu (Commander, Operation Safe Haven); Major-Gen. F.I. Yahaya, GOC 1 Division, Kaduna; AVM, M.I. Mukhtar (AOC Air Training Command), Kaduna;  Rear Admiral T. Pani (Commandant, Nigerian Navy School of Armaments), and other senior military officers.

Also in attendants were the commissioners of police and state directors of the DSS from the concerned states.

The communique said: “After briefings and discussions, the governors of the nine states agreed on extraordinary measures to tackle the menace of banditry.”

Present at the meeting were Governors Aminu Masari (Katsina); Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi); Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa); Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna); Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto); Bello Matawalle (Zamfara); Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), while Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Nasiru Gawuna.